Meet Annah, a happy three-year-old girl identified by our medical partner's care center, AIC Cure Hospital, during a mobile clinic conducted in a remote area of Eastern Kenya. She has been diagnosed with snake bite contractures on her ankle. Currently, she cannot put on shoes, and she is also unable to walk normally, as her ankle joint is affected by the contracture.
“When [Annah] walks for long distances, her legs start to hurt, and she cannot wear shoes," shares her grandfather.
At just the tender age of two, Annah was bitten by a snake while playing with her friends. Because her speech abilities had not fully developed then, she went home crying and could not report anything to her parents. By the time they discovered the bite and rushed her to the hospital, the snake venom had spread and affected the tissue around her ankle. She underwent a skin graft at another hospital but now needs an operation to release the shortened muscle around her ankle. After the operation, Annah will be able to wear closed shoes, walk like the rest of her peers, and even attend school.
Annah's father is a casual laborer, and her mother is a stay-at-home mom with a small baby that she is nursing. Annah's parents do not have enough resources to provide for their daughter, so she lives with her grandfather, a caring man named William who has a farm and sells produce to make ends meet. The family needs help raising $799 to pay for Annah's surgery, five nights in the hospital, blood tests, and medicine.
"Now we are hopeful that after the treatment, Annah [can] at least take herself to school and back comfortably," her grandfather says. "We also look forward to seeing her wear shoes."